Major Church News Developments Reported

Hello again, everyone! Less than 24 hours before General Conference is set to begin, there have been major and significant developments on many Church news fronts within the last 12 hours or less. Let's get right into all of those. First, as many of you have seen from the comments on previous posts, the Choir that US President Ronald Reagan called "America's Choir" has changed its' name.

This is being done in order to follow President Nelson's recent impression (about emphasizing and using the proper name of the Lord's Church), which discouraged against using "Mormon" as a term for the members or organization of the Church.

When President Monson became Church President in 2008, he and his counselors would sometimes refer to the Choir as merely the "Tabernacle Choir" and would omit any usage of the term "Mormon" in those references. So, in compliance with both the previous practice of a Church President, and, more significantly, in order to comply with the guidelines about the proper terminology for the Church and its' members, the Choir will now be known as "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square".

It may take some getting used to, but to me, this change makes perfect sense. The Orchestra and Bell Choir that have previously performed with the Choir have been referred to respectively as "The Orchestra at Temple Square" and "The Bells on Temple Square". So this stylistic change seems not only needed, but very appropriate and timely. The Church News also provided some additional details on this name change. It was great to hear about that.

Also from the Newsroom, the Church will be posting all updated articles and other coverage relating to General Conference in this specific section  of that Newsroom. In the meantime, in an earlier post, I had mentioned that the Newsroom would feature stories throughout the weekend which are shared in the semiannual World Report, which will air during General Conference weekend. So stay tuned to that page for the stories that will be shared during this weekend as well.

We conclude now by turning to the Church News website, which has featured some additional inspiring articles. Church members around the world shared what the April 2018 General Conference meant to them. In another article in the "History Revisited" series, a Church News staff writer took a look back at the vital role of women's voices  during General Conference throughout the history of the Church.

There was another report about the Saints and our friends of other faiths who continue to work together to make progress with ongoing cleanup efforts from the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. While the road to full recovery and restoration may take a while, the common brotherhood of man and a mutual desire to help each other has transcended religious differences. And finally, the Church News has shared insights from a few Church members around the world about familial traditions being kept and the variety of other ways in which Saints around the world prepare for General Conference.

As the Conference weekend occurs, you can be sure I will continue to provide coverage of important developments as they occur. I do continue to also monitor any other Church and temple news and will bring word of those developments to you all as I become aware of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! Some additional Church news developments have come to my attention within the last several hours. Let's get right into all of those. First of all, here in Utah, a major compromise has been reached between supporters of the ballot initiative which will go before voters that would legalize marijuana (both for medical and recreational use) and those who have opposed it, including a coalition of governmental and religious leaders and medical professionals who see problems with the wording of the initiative as it now stands.

The compromise, announced today by Utah Governor Gary Herbert, calls for the initiative to remain on the ballot, on the understanding that whether or not it passes, a special session of the Utah legislature will come together to either fix the existing problems if the initiative passes, or to craft legislation to legalize medical marijuana with the proper safeguards and protections if the measure does not pass. Both those in favor of and those opposed to the ballot measure have promised to scale down the level and manner in which their support or opposition is expressed. The Newsroom on the Church website has provided a thorough look at the compromise.

In the meantime, in ongoing efforts to emphasize the increasing influence of international service of our General Authorities, and to provide a look at how highly the Church needs, trusts, and uses international leaders, two articles were provided. The first provides some perspective and thoughts about the growing globalization of general Church leadership from two international leaders who have served as General Authorities since April 1994, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who hails from Europe), and Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, General Authority Seventy (who was born and raised in Brazil).

And the final article highlights how a recent interfaith forum demonstrated how the Church and its' leaders are having more of a global influence, politically (on issues, but never on candidates), medically, and on matters relating to both religion in general and the values, doctrines, and principles, which the Church has supported and for which Church leaders have been advocates.

As ever, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments. I will also be providing ongoing coverage of developments leading up to, throughout, and directly following General Conference. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

New President Called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Church News reported about an hour ago that a new president has been called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple, which was yet another change I had not anticipated when putting together my list of temples which might have a new president called this year. This brings the number of new temple presidents called this year to 67.

But more than that, the new president for this temple is Wolfgang Pilz, who is currently serving as an area seventy. This brings me to revisiting something I have previously mentioned on this blog: in recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of current area seventies who are called to serve as mission or temple presidents in any given year.

For area seventies called to preside over missions, it has not been uncommon to see them continue to serve as area seventies for 1-3 General Conferences following the beginning of their new assignments. For those called as temple presidents, however, the practice has generally been to release them during the General Conference before their service commences (which has traditionally been in November for currently operating temples, and for new temples or those undergoing renovation, that service begins once the temple is dedicated or rededicated.

That said, the number of area seventies on my list of those who may be released now stands at 16 (with 4 who began serving as mission presidents in July, 7 others who will be serving as temple presidents within the next few months, and 5 more who have served for seven years or longer), although in recent years, we have seen far more area seventies than that released each October. It used to be the case that the bulk of changes in area seventies occurred every April, with only a few changes in October, but, as others have observed in previous comments here, that does not seem to be the case now.

In the days ahead (particularly at some point during the upcoming General Conference weekend), we are sure to learn more about what President Nelson has planned for future temple-building efforts in the Church. And if those turn out to be on the scale that many (myself included) have heard is possible and likely, we are almost certain to see an increase in the number of temple developments reported, and that in turn may lead to additional news about new temple presidents in the years ahead.

To the best of my ability, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all ASAP after I learn of them. I will also be providing extensive coverage of whatever occurs during this General Conference weekend. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time.

Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! I am back to finally share the additional Church news stories which have recently crossed my radar. Let's get right into all of those. First, in advance of the upcoming General Conference, an article from the Church's News and Events subpage (not to be confused with the official Newsroom), shared two articles, the first of which highlighted how Church members from 3 different continents (each of whom lives outside of Utah) enjoy General Conference every six months.

The second story highlights testimonies from each current member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (shared either during the April General Conference, via social media, or as part of their worldwide ministry visits to various areas) about the divinely foreordained calling of Church President Russell M. Nelson.

I just want to interject a personal note here. Many people who are either ignorant, arrogant, or are lacking a clear understanding of the way the leading councils of the Church craft policy, practice, and general decisions impacting the entire Church have been relentless in advancing the notion that, now that President Nelson is "in charge", he is changing everything he can, as quickly as he can, on no more than a personal preference or whim.

But the reality, which some choose to either overlook or blindly ignore, is that no policy, practice, or decision is ever made by the President of the Church unless and until there is full unanimity about such matters among all those in the apostleship.

While any Church President does have the right, authority, and divinely-mandated obligation to discern and present the will of the Lord to his fellow apostles, unless all feel good about such actions, President Nelson would never unilaterally change such things on a personal whim or preference, without the input, support, and consent of his Brethren.

He and his predecessors have made that abundantly clear. Some people either aren't aware of that or choose to overlook it. Sorry. It's a sore spot for me that so many voice opinions without bothering to educate themselves about how things really work in the Church in that regard.

Getting off my soapbox now, we turn to other developments upon which the Church News has reported. A more complete report was provided about Elder Uchtdorf's recent tour of Europe. Elder Uchtdorf has long been one of my favorites, and I greatly appreciate hearing more about his recent ministry efforts.

In the meantime, the Church News also provided a look at how those of the rising generation have strengthened the Church in Cambodia. And the Church News additionally shared an inspiring love story about two young adults in the Church who helped each other and thereby fell in love as they individually battled cancer.

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to find and share these developments with you all. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

New Temple Developments Reported

Hello again, everyone! I am back to share some updates on a couple of temples. I had also hoped to cover some additional Church news which has been reported today, but will have to save that for another post later today. First, with the open house for the Barranquilla Colombia Temple set to begin exactly one month from today, the work of planting clusters of flowers on the temple grounds is almost complete.

Additionally, several developments have been reported on the construction process for the Durban South Africa Temple. Rather than trying to summarize all of those, I refer those interested to the Facebook page for the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site. That site, as previously noted, is anticipated to be up and running again this Saturday, if all goes well.

I again want to reemphasize something I have previously noted: Although the developments reported on temples anticipated to be completed next year are very encouraging, there is currently no reason to believe that those temples will be dedicated any sooner than specified by the estimates I offered on this blog previously. In summary, the anticipated time-frame for known temple events within the next 15 months is as follows:

October 28: Dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple (confirmed)
December 9: Dedication of the Barranquilla Colombia Temple (confirmed)
At some point (hopefully sooner rather than later): Full-scale renovation anticipated to begin on the Asuncion Paraguay Temple
Note: This temple closed almost a year ago (in November 2017), but has been stalled in its' renovation process. While I would hope that process would not be stalled for too much longer, unless a miracle occurs, I would not anticipate that process getting underway within the final two months of this year. By extension, that also means that the Church's estimated reopening of that temple at some point in 2019 will not occur either.
March 10-17: Dedication of the Rome Italy Temple (confirmed)
April 14: Dedication of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple (confirmed)
Early-to-mid 2019: Dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple; Rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple
Note: Although the two events above may be considered somewhat interchangeable, and although I voiced my opinion that the rededication of the Frankfurt temple could occur before the already-scheduled dedication of the Rome Italy Temple, since the dedication of that temple is now 5 months away, and since there has been no official announcement on the Frankfurt temple, it seems more likely that the rededication of the Frankfurt temple will not occur until sometime after the already-scheduled dedications of the two temples above.
Mid-2019: Dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti and Lisbon Portugal Temples; Rededication of the Oklahoma City Oklahoma and Memphis Tennessee Temples
Note: Although the four temples may be considered interchangeable in terms of their future completion, the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, which is on the smaller side, is likely to be completed before the Lisbon Portugal Temple, and the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple has been confirmed as being ahead of the Memphis Tennessee Temple, although the latter closed first.
Mid-to-late 2019: Dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple; Rededication of the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple
Note: With the consistent progress reported within the last month on the construction of the Durban South Africa Temple, I would anticipate that temple's dedication to occur first. And although I had previously shared my thoughts that the rededication of the Baton Rouge Temple would occur first, a recent reevaluation of the information which I had available indicates that the Raleigh Temple is still slightly ahead.
Late 2019-early 2020: Rededication of the Oakland California Temple
Note: According to information given to me by a Church member living in Oakland, the Saints in that area were advised that this temple will reopen next year, as was indicated by the Church when this renovation process was announced. That said, my research indicates that temples undergoing renovation, particularly those that are older, may be delayed in their completion. For example, when the Frankfurt temple closed in 2015, it was anticipated to reopen in 2017, and, as noted, its' rededication is now estimated to occur in early-to-mid 2019. With that in mind, I have felt to be more conservative in my estimate for this temple until its' reopening in 2019 is certain.

Of course, some temple groundbreakings are also anticipated to occur within the next 15 months as well, but until more is known, I will forbear from including estimates for those for now. That said, I am working on an update to my general estimates for future temple events, and may include such estimates there if I feel confident enough in doing so at the time I am able to post them here.

I continue to monitor all temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Church Releases Official Statement on Decades-Old Abuse Allegations

Hello again, everyone! As I have mentioned in previous posts and comments on this blog, one of the signs leading up to the Second Coming of the Savior is that both good and evil would be spoken of about both the Church and its' leaders, and that some of that might involve at times Church leaders being accused of misconduct that is unverified by investigations. We saw that several years ago, when former Church member Tom Phillips filed a lawsuit in a British court against President Thomas S. Monson, alleging fraudulent conduct. That lawsuit was later dismissed as groundless.

Well, apparently, it is happening again. An unnamed party has filed a lawsuit against a "John and Jane Doe", who have been identified by their attorney as one of current Church President Nelson's daughter and son-in-law, in which allegations of child abuse dating back from the 1980s resurfaced, along with an allegation that the leaders of the Church both interfered with the investigation of those allegations and attempted to cover them up.

The Deseret News has shared the details of those allegations, what was done to investigate them, and how those involved in the process of investigating the claims have categorically denied that Church leaders did anything to interfere with or cover up the allegations. In the meantime, since the media asked the Church to comment on this issue, the Church released an official statement earlier today.

But there are several real problems I have with this issue: it appears that the therapist who counseled the children involved in the alleged abuse has been verified to be someone who has previously planted "false memories" in the minds of those she counseled. Additionally, a polygraph test was done on all those who were accused of such conduct, with the result that all were telling the truth about their innocence in the matter.

And the real kicker is that the unnamed party making these allegations is represented by the same attorney who has been representing McKenna Denson, who has gained notoriety for her allegations against her former MTC president, Joseph Bishop, and who, not being content to let the legal or religious investigations into her allegations take its' course, went so far as to confront Bishop's local congregation with her allegations, and to accuse his local leaders of assaulting her when they tried to assert that this was neither the time, place, or way to handle this.

All of this convinces me that in this era where the "#MeToo" movement is gaining momentum, there will naturally and sadly be false, unfounded accusations against people for whom such behavior is truly contrary to their nature, and against whom such accusations may be raised so their alleged victims can have a moment of publicity, and can smear the good name and reputation of genuinely good people.

Let me be clear: I am not trying to minimize or trivialize the trauma that many have experienced at the hands of those who have abused them, or to in any way condone such behavior. As a Church member, I ascribe to the views expressed by our Church leaders that abuse of any kind is highly reprehensible, and that, when proven, those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest legal and religious extent possible.

That said, false accusations are not all that uncommon, particularly against those who are in positions of power (in worldly terms) or authority (in religious terms), and that was true before the "#MeToo" movement ever started. Particularly in relation to these allegations, they seem to have no basis in fact, and the odds that this alleged abuse actually occurred seem to be slim to none.

I had hoped to include some temple updates in this post, but since my analysis in this post was more in-depth than I intended it to be, I will need to do a separate post highlighting those. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! Several Church News stories have been reported since my last update on that subject. Let's get right into a discussion of those. First of all, as some of you may recall my mentioning, the Church has recently come out to clearly note that its' leaders support the use of medical marijuana, but cannot get on board with the current wording of a ballot initiative upon which Utahns will vote this November.

The Newsroom on the Church's official website shares this report of how Church leaders and representatives met with online influencers to more fully explain their stance. And in the meantime, at the top of the 10:00 PM newscast on KSL, the top story was this report from the Deseret News, highlighting how both those supporting and opposing the current measure have reached a tentative agreement about how the policy in Utah should eventually look, whether or not the measure passes. That was good to hear.

In the meantime, the Church News reported a few new developments as well, including additional comments from Elders Quentin L. Cook and Dale G. Renlund on why the new narrative history of the Church entitled "Saints" was written for everyone.

In the meantime, as I have previously mentioned, the Primary General Presidency, which was entirely reorganized in April 2016, has since seen numerous changes. While Sister Joy D. Jones has continued to serve as the Primary General President, her first First Counselor, Sister Jean B. Bingham, was called a year later as the new Relief Society General President. Her original Second Counselor, Bonnie H. Cordon, became her First Counselor in April 2017 as a result of Sister Bingham's assignment change. Then, last April, Sister Cordon was called as the new Young Women General President.

During the year in which they served together as a Primary Presidency, a major theme on which they focused their efforts was unity. That theme has continued to serve them well as Sisters Bingham and Cordon have embraced new opportunities to work with their own new auxiliary presidencies. And that unity will continue to serve them as they embrace another change, the opportunity to have the Women's Session of General Conference two hours following the Saturday Afternoon Session. The Church News had an opportunity to interview these three women recently, and that article is well worthy of your time and attention.

And finally, the Church has released another update to the Gospel Library app, which is a special section featuring articles created by young adults and for young adults. The general leadership of the Church has seemed to be increasing their efforts to reach out to youth and young adults and to help them feel wanted, understood, accepted, and appreciated, and it is good to see this development.

In the coming days, particularly as General Conference gets closer and takes place, there will likely be far more to report here in terms of both Church news and temple developments. To the best of my ability, I will continue to do my level best to monitor all of that and bring word of it to you here. I should also perhaps mention that, although the open commenting period for my General Conference predictions has technically ended, if there is nay additional feedback anyone has on those, I will try to take that under advisement as I finalize those predictions in the days ahead.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Temple Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share some updated information on temples. Let's get right into all of that. First, a general update: I have previously shared my theory that the Church could have a minimum of 200 operating temples by or before the 200th anniversary of the Church (which will occur on Saturday April 6, 2030), whether or not an official goal is made to do so.

There are now 11.51 years between today and that day. And since the Church would just need to announce and 11 additional temples, in addition to completing the 30 currently in various phases of construction. That could easily be done if 3.56 temples were dedicated each year. And, as I have mentioned, although only 2 temples will be dedicated by the end of this year, 2 temples have already had dedications set for next year, and 4 others are also anticipated to be dedicated next year as well.

We also know that much has been said about President Nelson's extensive plans to expand the number of temples to a degree that will exceed what we previously saw under President Hinckley's divinely-inspired temple-building boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. So I have no doubts that the Church could and likely will have 200 operating temples well before that date.

Moving on, new information I received recently indicates that the tower for the Arequipa Peru Temple is being prepared for the process of stone cladding. Additionally, I don't know whether or not I shared this previously, but, as some of you may recall, a while ago, I switched the order in which the Baton Rouge Louisiana and Raleigh North Carolina Temple were listed on my report because it seemed the former was progressing more consistently than the latter. I determined upon further research that I had done so in error (primarily because stone cladding is making progress in Raleigh but has not yet started in Baton Rouge).

I continue to monitor all temple developments and will do my level best to keep bringing word of those to you all as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any content at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Elder Ulisses Soares Celebrates His 60th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! Now that October 2 has officially come around, it is my honor and with great pleasure that I bring you, for the first time, a post to honor Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Elder Soares has a most unique life story and background, and I am grateful to share some thoughts about him with you all now.

Ulisses Soares was born to Apparecido Soares and Mercedes Carecho Soares in Sao Paulo Brazil on October 2, 1958. He has European and Amerindian ancestry. When an aunt joined the Church, that was how the Soares' family first learned of the gospel. His parents, after being taught by the missionaries, were baptized when he was five years old. Elder Soares would later reflect on how his small branch would meet in a tiny rental place that was located above a bakery. He served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro,

Upon his return, he connected with Rosana Fernandes Morgado, who had served in the same mission at around the same time, but whom he had not met until after they both had returned. The two were married in the Sao Paulo Temple, and together they raised three children. His academic experience involved studying at the  Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, from which, in 1985, he would receive a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting. He then continued his studies at the National Institute of Postgraduate Study, where he earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration.

Elder Soares worked for several multi-national companies (one of which was Pirelli Tire Company) as an accountant and an auditor. Donald L. Clark, who at that time was serving as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil, convinced him to take a job with the Church as a senior auditor. When Brother Clark was asked to serve as a mission president, Brother Soares took over for him as director of temporal affairs. He went on to fill a special assignment for the Church's Presiding Bishopric.

Within the Church, Elder Soares has served as an elder's quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, stake high councilman, and as a regional welfare agent. When the São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake was created in 1995, Elder Soares was called as the first president thereof. 5 years later, he served a three-year term as president of the Porto Portugal Mission. Less than two years after his return (during the April 2005 General Conference), he was called as a General Authority Seventy.

As a General Authority Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Brazil South Area.from 2005-2007, as First Counselor in the Brazil Area from 2007-2009, and as President of that area from 2009-2011. He served from August 2011-January 2013 as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, at which point he was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the North America Southeast Area  Then, in November 2015, Elder Soares was reassigned to oversee the Idaho and North America Central Areas of the Church. He still had oversight of both of those areas in 2018.

On March 31, 2018, Elder Soares was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle on Thursday April 5, 2018. He thus became both the first Latter-day Saint apostle from Brazil and the first one from Latin America. Elder Soares has had much opportunity to grow into his new assignment.

Elder Soares has had 6 opportunities to speak in General Conference so far, with 2 addresses given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 while in the Presidency of the Seventy, and 1 following his call to the apostleship. In order to review any of these wonderful addresses, you can find them here.

Elder Soares is a good man, and although he may never read this, I am grateful to have been able to put this birthday tribute together for him. I hope he has a good day today, and I look forward to hearing his first full address as an apostle in this upcoming General Conference. I wholeheartedly sustain him and all the other prophets, seers, and revelators in their roles and responsibilities as special witnesses of Christ.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Sister Barbara Ballard Passes Away at Age 86; First Presidency Announces Dedication Information for Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

Hello again, everyone! Though these breaking news developments are a few hours old, in view of some personal illness that has kept me from doing my first check of the Church websites until now, I only found out about two major developments a few moments ago.

First of all, Sister Barbara Bowen Ballard, wife of President M. Russell Ballard,, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, died earlier today after struggling with many health issues, one of which was Alzheimer's. Further information about her life and thoughts from her family about her legacy can be found in the Church News and via the Newsroom on the Church's official website. Those sources speak for themselves, so I will say no more about them, except that funeral services will be held a week from today, and that I am sorry those will coincide with his birthday, though perhaps that was President Ballard's choice so he could share one last birthday with her. My condolences go out to the Ballard family at this time.

While I don't want to overshadow that news, I am also pleased to report that the First Presidency has announced the open house and dedication dates for the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. The official release about that notes that a public open house will begin for that temple on Tuesday March 12, and will go through Saturday March 30, with the exception of the Sundays of March 17 and 24.

The Church, which will continue the tradition of having a youth devotional instead of a cultural celebration, will have such a gathering for the youth in Kinshasa on Saturday April 13, with the temple dedication to be held the next day in 3 sessions, and will be broadcast to all Saints living in the Kinshasa temple district. But here's the thing that intrigued me most: The release also notes: "Additional details regarding the temple dedication will be announced at a future date." What that means exactly, I don't know.

I would just like to add here that the timing of this dedication was just about when I estimated it would be. When I last posted my estimates for known temple events, I had shared my feelings that this temple could have a dedication in mid-April. But I should also note that I thought that the next big temple news would be either the confirmation of the groundbreaking for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple or the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. There is still time for both of those to be officially confirmed in the near future.

With my thanks to those who commented here earlier today to share these developments with me, and my thanks to all of you for your ongoing interest and support, that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any subject at any time. Thank you for the ongoing additional privilege of your time.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.